Does FERPA distinguish between School Resource Officers (SROs) and other local police officers who work in a school?

No. An SRO typically serves as an on-site law enforcement officer and as a liaison with the local police or sheriff’s department.  An SRO also works with teachers and school administrators to promote school safety and to help ensure physical security.  An SRO may be designated by the school as a “law enforcement unit” official under FERPA (§ 99.8).  However, in order for a school to disclose personally identifiable information (PII) from education records to an SRO, the SRO must be considered a “school official” under FERPA in accordance with § 99.31(a)(1)(i)(B) concerning outsourcing.  A school may only non-consensually disclose PII from students’ education records to its law enforcement unit if those individuals in the law enforcement unit meet the requirements set forth in FERPA’s school official exception or if some other FERPA exception to the general consent rule applies. 

A school must have direct control over an SRO’s maintenance and use of education records in providing SRO services in order for the SRO to be considered a school official.  Further, under the school official exception (as well as any FERPA exception to consent), SROs may only use the PII from education records for the purposes for which the disclosure was made, e.g., to promote school safety and the physical security of the students.  See §§ 99.31(a)(1)(i)(B)(3) and 99.33(a)(2).  In addition, SROs are subject to the redisclosure requirements of § 99.33(a).  This means that an SRO who is serving as a “school official” under FERPA may not disclose PII from education records to others, including other employees of his or her local police department who are not acting as school officials, without consent unless the redisclosure fits within one of the exceptions to FERPA’s consent requirement.